Thanks for stating the obvious, again

Burt Constable's April 17 column is titled "Babies with 'bad' names can grow to be fine adults". (By 'bad' he means unusual in America.) It is difficult to understand how an assembly of letters can be bad.

Negative connotations are of course possible. Could Burt be subtly steering the issue into the name of our president? Yes, there it is in paragraph ten. Barack Obama, despite the burden of an unusual name, became a fine President. George Bush had an ordinary first name but was evil. Had his first name been Snake he might have been better.

So what is the point of the column title? Give your newborn an odd name and increase the chances of success later in life? Give your child an ordinary name and the child will fail? Nonsense. The column title underscores Constable's magnificent grasp of the obvious. Thanks, Burt, for enlarging our perspectives.

James R. Schaefer

Mount Prospect